


The Kings of Hearts and Spades

by got_vexmilk



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Destiny 2, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Canon, andal is latino and puerto rican becuase i carve out representation for myself whenever i can, cayde is a mess, dares, fall of osiris andal can perish, in this house we respect concept art andal, mildly slow burn, rating to change probably, spicy sunshine boi andal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-07 02:31:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13424838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/got_vexmilk/pseuds/got_vexmilk
Summary: When Andal gives Cayde a dare he just can’t refuse, Cayde decides to risk it all. He gains a fireteam, a cloak, ans some respect, but he loses that which he loves. This is the story of how Cayde-6 became the Hunter Vanguard.aka: our boys are a sad mess so lets let them be happy for a minute





	1. Chapter 1:

“Yanno, Cayde, I’ve been examining the evidence, and personally I’ve come to the conclusion that its you!” Andal Brask was entirely too cheery for the ass-crack of dawn. He was nearly shouting as Cayde wandered into the vanguard hall, somehow managing to look bleary and tired, even though they all knew Exos didn’t need sleep. Ikora glanced at Zavala, who was in need of at least a good nap, what after the raid they’d been coordinating all night. This had better be good.

“Pardon?” Cayde also managed to _sound_ sleepy.

“You’re Rasputin! Legendary Warmind, defender of Earth? I wish you’d remember that, so you could reclaim your power and save us all!” Andal was clearly trying to restrain a large bout of laughter, and as he spoke, Cayde seemed that if he could blush, his face would be aflame. Zavala rolled his eyes as Cayde searched for a way to deflect.

“Well, Andal, you might be onto something here, but if I’m being honest with you, I think coordinating our defence throughout the solar system would be exhausting, so I think I’d best leave it to you.” Cayde was suddenly very awake, and looked Andal in his eyes, those big, chocolate-colored eyes,  the light of his own sensors holding a challenge. Andal smirked.

 

In that moment, Cayde’s  fireteam entered behind him, and the moment was broken. His warlock and Titan turned in the reports from the raid, and Andal’s attention was drawn away from him. In the back of his processor, Cayde knew that having a relationship with his friend, who was technically his superior officer was highly inappropriate, but Cayde never listened to that part of himself anyway. The rest of him wanted to know what Andal felt like to cuddle, or to slow dance with. ‘ _Fuck, I’ve gone soft. Very, very, very, very soft.’_ Cayde thought absentmindedly. Whatever, worse people to go soft over.

 

                   ♠                ♠                

 

Andal has a plan. This is a bet he has to win. He will win. Cayde, that smug piece of metal, with an ass, that really, why did they take so much time sculpting his ass? Andal couldn’t decide whether the individual who blessed Cayde’s rear end should be thrown off the tower or hailed as a hero.

Andal steeled himself from that line of thought before it could go any further and pretended to back to work. He really needed to get this report done, but he also wanted to go find his best friend and kiss him senseless. In his defense, Cayde hasn’t made this easy on him. Traveler bless him, Cayde was an amazing fighter, but about the least detailed report-writer Andal has met in about, eh, a century and a half as the Hunter Vanguard. The last strike’s report contained about 6 words: “Ritual stopped, wizards dead, you’re welcome” Andal thanks the Traveler that he can now file the footage from Cayde’s camera on the new helmet Andal got him for Christmas. His ulterior motives were very apparent, but at least now Andal can do his goddamn job.

 

Cayde decides to stroll into Andals office the very moment that Andal wished he would. Not. The exact moment Andal wished he would not. He really wasn’t fooling anyone. Not even himself.

 

Cayde plopped himself into his favorite chair and sighs, “Andal, dear friend of mine, when, pray tell, did you become so boring?”

 

Andal doesn’t bother to restrain his glare. “When you decided to write the worst reports in the history of The Traveler.” he deadpans. Cayde doesn’t respond for a few moments, instead choosing to flop his head back and look at the intricate map of the stars painted on Andal’s ceiling.

 

Suddenly, Cayde burst out of his silence. “I know just what you need! A good _dare.”_ Cayde rambles about maybe joining in on the Hunter’s truth or dare on the moon, but Andal has something else in mind.

 

“Cayde, hold on.” Andal could barely contain his laughter already, He knew Cayde was gonna blow a fucking gasket. “I challenge you to a Vanguard Dare.” Andal was right. He could practically see the sparks flying.

 

“Alright, I’ll bite. What’s my dare?”  Cayde stared at Andal inquisitively, not realizing that in all his excitement, Andal forgot to actually make up a dare for Cayde. Andal wracked his brain. This couldn’t be too stupid or it would seem unimportant, and as much as it tires him, Andal actually likes his job, so he didn’t want to make the dare impossible. “You don’t actually have a dare? Do you?”

 

Andal huffed. “Cayde, of course I had a dare! You don’t think I’m so stupid that I actually wouldn’t have a dare prepared, do you?” Cayde remained oddly silent. “DO YOU?” Cayde still remained silent, but he lifted his shoulders in a shrug.

 

“If you have this fantastic dare, what is it then?” Cayde leaned over the desk, and Andal just wanted to grab him by the fucking cloak and 

 

“Date me.” Andal swears he wasn’t in control of his mouth when the thought flew out, but by The Traveler it was just the right amount of demented to make up a great dare.

 

“Pardon?” Cayde was 99.999% sure that he heard Andal wrong. There’s no way Andal felt the same way, right? Andal stuttered for a moment, and sat back in his chair as Cayde’s mind whirled.

 

Andal glanced up at his stars. “For your dare. Date me. Or at least pretend to,” Andal felt a smile slowly creep across his face, “For, oh I dunno, 6 months.” The thought made Cayde go weak in the knees. 6 months of fake dating Andal, or a lifetime in the tower. Cayde isn’t sure that he’ll survive faking a relationship with Andal. He’d let something slip, and then he’d have no Andal, and nowhere to hide, not as the Hunter Vanguard. On the plus side, though, this will _seriously_ fuck with Zavala. And Cayde has never turned down a dare. “What do ya say? Will you take it?”

 

Cayde pretends to contemplate for a  few more seconds as he and Andal stand, moving to leave the room. Cayde gets out the door of the small office first, then whirls around and pops a kiss on Andal’s cheek before Andal can react. “I guess we’re boyfriends now, loser!”, He shouts, and runs off in the direction of the North Tower, leaving Andal red from head to toe.

 

“I guess we’re boyfriends now” Andal chuckles to himself, and wanders off to finally file that report.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> our boys are awkward string beans who are pining,, also this one is hella short but meh

Several hours after midnight, the tower was mostly quiet. For once, no enemy of humanity was being put down tonight, for even the vanguard needs rest. Postmaster, Cryptarch, and Speaker alike had all shut their doors, at least for a few hours. Most were asleep, except for one lone exo.  
“Spades, what the actual fuck am I gonna do?” Cayde-6 was restless. Normally after a raid, he’d at least charge for a while, but he couldn’t sit still for that long. Instead, he was pacing around his assigned room, stepping over pieces of gear and piles of street clothes, his ramen, now long abandoned, was sitting on the coffee table. Spades, his ghost, watched him from across the room, having grown tired of floating alongside the pacing man.  
“I mean for starters, we could go with, I dunno, not agree to a bet to fake date the guy you’ve been pining over for like 50 years,” Spades snapped, his one, bright eye looking pointedly at Cayde. He was clearly feeling like a little shit on this particular night.  
“Spades, I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but you are extremely unhelpful,” Cayde barked, looking back towards his ghost.  
“How about you go have Shaxx punt you off the tower, and then call me unhelpful.” Spades zipped over to hover in front of his guardian.  
“Okay, okay, you know I love you and you are very helpful, except for when I need advice!” Cayde lamented, finally flopping onto the couch, Spades close behind.  
“I mean you already fucked up beyond repair, so I don’t know what advice I can give you” Spades laughed incredulously.  
Cayde sighed, “I’m aware that I fucked up, okay? I know I can’t back out now, but I can at least find a way to win this. We both know this isn’t the first time I’ve gotten myself into some deep shit.”  
“Deep shit is right, but this isn’t accidentally walking in on a hive ritual without your fireteam. I can’t bail you out of this one,” Spades sounded fonder now, almost apologetic.  
“I just - I can’t lose him, Spades. I’d be, well, lost.” Cayde sighs again, and the pair falls into a solemn silence, but its soon interrupted by a knock on the door.  
Cayde stands to open the door, “Andal? Dude, you look like shit. Shouldn’t you be asleep?” he moves out of the doorway and lets his friend into the apartment.  
“Yea, I should be, but I can’t, because I, “ Andal pauses for a moment, then recovers “I’m too excited to fuck with Zavala in the morning!” he laughs, but his smile doesn’t fully reach his eyes. Cayde decides to brush it off as sleep deprivation, and laughs with him. Andal’s ghost, Apollo, floats over to gossip with Spades, presumably about whatever stupid thing so- and-so’s guardian had done today, or how the recent strike went.  
“About that, how are we gonna play this, exactly? I mean, I know the basic story is that we’re dating, but we should probably set like boundaries, or whatever.” Cayde cut himself off before he began to ramble about how he was good with whatever Andal was good with because then he wouldn’t be able to explain.  
Andal looked thoughtful for a moment. “I mean, how far are you willing to go?” he paused to waggle his eyebrows while Cayde struggled to breath. ‘All the way’ Cayde thought, slightly guiltily.  
Instead of voicing his thoughts, Cayde shrugged. Andal looked increasingly uncomfortable. In the silence, which was now brimming on awkward, Cayde looked at Andal, truly seeing him for the first time since he walked in. He truly looked like shit. His caramel-colored skin was dull and grey, with dark circles that looked akin to bruises. Cayde knew that his friend has terrible sleeping habits, but he couldn’t remember when it got this bad.  
Cayde motioned for his friend to sit on the couch, and simultaneously decided that there were more important topics of conversation.  
“Andal, when was the last time you actually slept?” Cayde wouldn’t normally be this concerned but, by The Traveler, this was Andal.  
Andal sighs, seeming more tired by the minute, “Cayde, can we just-” he made an odd gesture with his hands that Cayde interpreted to mean ‘not talk about this’.  
Cayde huffed, and mentally scolded himself for not being brave enough to push tough issues. They fell back into that semi-awkward silence, and Cayde became acutely aware of how close he and Andal were sitting on the couch. Seeing as he didn’t entertain people often, his couch was smaller than average, but there was plenty of room for them to spread out if they wanted to. Cayde didn’t want to. Apparently, neither did Andal, as he was sitting exactly 3.5 inches away from him, but Cayde wanted zero inches between them. If he maybe scooted 2.75 inches closer, well that’s not his fault.  
In the silence, Cayde failed to notice that Andal’s eyes were closed, and his breathing had evened out. Cayde looked at his sleeping friend and decided it was best not to move him. So instead, he let his processors shift into sleep mode for a much needed cool down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let our bois have some sleep!!!!! 
> 
> come yell with me on tumblr! I take requests! got-vexmilk.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> literally everyone @ candal: WHEN WILL YOU LEARN?!? THAT YOUR ACTIONS??? HAVE CONSEQUENSES!!!!!
> 
>  
> 
> basically our boys have some fluff
> 
>  
> 
> ALSO: THERE IS A BONUS SCENE AT THE END THAT WASN'T POSTED TO TUMBLR! (wink wonk)

Andal awoke to light through the curtains. 

Wait.

Andal  _ awoke.  _ Which means he slept. He looks around, last night coming back to him. Their failed conversation, falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night with a warm, metallic, weight whirring softly on his chest, and making the conscious decision to go back to sleep. Actually sleeping, without a single nightmare, for the first time since Andal can remember.  

Andal rubs his eyes, and looks for Cayde. For them being so close, it’s shocking how little Andal has seen of Cayde’s apartment. It appears that Cayde has been up for a while, as most of the ramen boxes Andal noticed last night were absent. Andal was slightly confused by it. As much as it was unsanitary, and frankly gross, to leave them around, the ramen boxes seemed to be the only thing that said ‘ _ THIS APARTMENT BELONGS TO CAYDE-6, WHO DESPITE BEING SOMEWHAT OF A JACKASS, IS A GOOD PERSON WHO HAPPENS TO BE A TAD BIT SEXY. OR A LOT SEXY’.  _

Andal ended that train of thought before it got too out of control, and wandered his way into the kitchen. He knew he probably looked ridiculous, but he couldn’t find it within himself to care. Cayde has seen him look this bad before, and he will most likely see him look worse. He was halfway down the short hall to the kitchen when he heard a certain mechanical voice swear at the same time he began to smell smoke. 

“Good morning?” Andal questioned wearily, voice still rough from sleep. Cayde looked up in alarm from the clear failure of an attempt to make pancakes. The charred remains of what seemed to be pancake number one were being scraped off the bottom of the pan. 

“Hola?” Cayde responded reproachfully, only slightly turning so the pan isn’t in full view of Andal. 

Andal couldn’t help but laugh, “Your terrible spanish,” he lunged for the pan, “can not distract me from this culinary disaster.” Andal considered the pan in his hands. “How many have you burned?” He wondered aloud, chuckling all the while. 

“Only the one,” Cayde paused under Andal’s disbelieving stare, “Really!” 

“I cannot believe you burned a pancake in the presence of the pancake master,” Andal tried to sound cool, but dissolved into laughter as he spoke. “I’ll show you how it’s done,” he said, looking around the kitchen for another pan.

Upon further inspection, there wasn’t a single other pan in the kitchen. The cabinets were mostly empty, save for a few bottles of that alcohol made specifically for exos, which in Andal’s opinion was probably just straight antifreeze. Other than that and one sole box of cereal, the kitchen was barren. 

“Is that the only pan in this apartment?” Andal sounded personally insulted by the lack of the lack of food and cooking supplies. 

“No!” Cayde responded without thinking, “Wait. Yes. That is my only pan” he confirmed upon further thought. 

Andal sighed, “Okay. Let’s just, clean that one, and  _ then _ I’ll teach you to make pancakes.” Andal let himself finally take in the image of Cayde. Of course, gone was his usual armor, and the ultramarine of his metal plating stood out against the light grey of his sweatpants and white tee shirt in a way that made him look striking.

Andal leaned up against the counter and smiled fondly at his best friend, and he realized he wanted this every day. He wanted to wake up every morning and make breakfast. He wanted to get ready together and face whatever the day held for them. He wanted to come home and eat spicy ramen, or help Cayde make something and then go to bed and curl up together and feel safe and warm. He wanted that forever. Several centuries at least. Andal wanted to stand, side by side, with Cayde and face whatever the hell this universe wanted to throw at them, together.  

Cayde continued scrubbing at the pan for a few moments before looking up at Andal with a look on his face that can only be described as a shit-eating grin. “Is this clean enough for you?” Cayde waved him closer so that he could see the pan, only to have water splashed in his face. Andal sputtered, but quickly grabbed the handheld sprayer on the sink and retaliated. 

In retrospect, Andal shouldn’t have trusted the grin. They never made pancakes, and they wound up soaking the kitchen, but it was the most fun Andal thinks he’s had since he became the hunter vanguard. He laughs until his sides hurt, and he thinks his heart might burst with love. 

And then Andal looks at the clock. 

“Oh shit.” he says quietly. He’s long late for the vanguard’s morning meeting, and on top of that, he’s not in his quarters. Zavala is going to beat his ass so hard his ghost might have to revive him. Ikora might just punt him off the tower. Cayde looks up from where he was currently sitting in a puddle, and follows Andal’s gaze. 

“ _ Oh shit”  _ Cayde echos. 

“Well, if there’s ever a time to announce to Zavala that we’re ‘dating’, it’s now” Andal says, resigned to his own fate.

“On second thought, this is going to be amazing.” Cayde burst into laughter from the other side of the kitchen, and tried to stand, only to slip on water and fall back onto his ass, laughing harder. 

Andal carefully stood, regarding his own attire, “Cayde, Ikora’s going to punt me off the tower. I’m about to show up to the vanguard hall without my armor, soaking wet, with you trailing behind me.” Andal dissolved into hysterical laughter, “Zavala is going to  _ shit bricks” _

Andal at least dried off his hands and face, and moved towards the door, only for Cayde to stop him, a maniacal look on his face. “Wait. Before we go out there, I have a question. Can I call you snookums?”  

“Cayde, what the fuck” Andal gave Cayde a look that honestly reminded Cayde of that look Ikora gave him when he wasn’t using any of his brain power.  

“I’m calling you snookums, snookums” Cayde teased, and just like that, he was out the door. 

♠     ♠

 

Andal realized as soon as he left the apartment, that it would have been easier to crack into the vault of glass than to cross the tower unnoticed, when everyone knew the Vanguard had been looking for him for the last hour and a half. They had to know he was still in the tower, because there wasn’t a red alert going, but he and Cayde were still noticed before they could even get out of the North Tower.  A warlock, and young, by the looks of their armor, spotted them and yelled for the rest of the group. 

“Aria! I found them! Page Ikora!” She hollered across the small marketplace, and awoken titan, presumably Aria, relayed the message to her ghost. 

“Nononono, don’t page Ikora! At least let the man get some proper clothes first!” Cayde sputtered, and it might have worked, had she been a hunter. 

The Warlock just looked at them skeptically, and said plainly, “I report to Ikora Rey.” And moved toward Aria. Andal and Cayde glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. Kinderguardians.   

Not a minute later, Ikora came storming toward them, the angriest either of them had ever seen her. “ANDAL BRASK! Where on The Traveler’s Earth have you been!” When she was angry, Ikora Rey was scarier than any hive god or vex mind, and the entirety of her anger was pointed directly at Andal and Cayde. 

Andal was prepared to be thrown off the tower, but instead, he was brought into a bone-crushing hug. It occurred to him just how much Ikora cared about the people she dared call her friends, and how lucky he was to be considered one of him. But just as soon as that thought came and went, Ikora suddenly drops him. 

“Why?” she has to pause for a moment, presumably to gather her thoughts, “Why are you wet?” Andal scrambles for a way to explain the situation, because suddenly ‘I wandered over to my best friend’s apartment and then accidentally fell asleep on his couch and then we were gonna make pancakes but a water fight happened instead’ sounds incredibly unreasonable. He feels a metallic arm slide around his waist and tries to fight the blush that rises to his cheeks. By the look on Ikora’s face, he fails. 

Cayde clearly decides to come to the rescue. “So sorry ‘kora. Snookums here was at mine last night.” he recovered smoothly, and at first, Ikora only looked more confused, but then connected at least some of the dots in her head. 

Andal realizes from her expression of mixed disbelief and disgust that she may not have connected the right dots, and he opens his mouth to explain, but Ikora holds up a hand.  

“No, I don’t need to know any of the details. Just go.” she seemed to dismiss a thought with a shake of her head, “Get some proper clothes and pull yourself together before Zavala sees you two.” she shook her head again, and strode back in the direction of the Vanguard hall.

Andal turned to Cayde, who still had his arm around Andal’s waist. “She thinks we fucked, doesn’t she.” 

Cayde huffed out a laugh, “She definitely thinks we fucked, but did you see the look on her face?” the two dissolved into fits of laughter.

“I don’t need to know the details” Andal quoted with his best Ikora voice, and had Cayde laughing again. 

 

  ♠     ♠

 

Eventually, they made it to Andal’s apartment in the vanguard quarters. There was a reason Cayde spent more time here than Andal spent at his  place, as it was immeasurably nicer. The vanguard apartments were designed to be lived in, in a way that the kinderguardian dorms, and even the apartments of some veterans, just weren't. Andal’s apartment felt like a home, whereas Cayde’s felt like room in which he sometimes crashed when he decided to hang around the tower. Cayde has memories, some recent, some “shuffled” from reboots past, of this place, the scent of dinner wafting through the apartment, and of helping Andal hunt down whatever spice he had to try this month. Cayde never minded, because seeing his face, and of course, having the food, when Andal finally got his hands on it.

Cayde wandered around and pretended to look at books on the large bookshelf that stood in place of a television in between the two floor to ceiling windows, which overlooked the city.  To be the leader of the hunters, Andal had to be the most un-hunterlike hunter Cayde has ever met. But then again, when you’re stuck in the tower every single day, you might wind up that way.  

After a few moments, Andal returned from his room, his hair even fluffier than usual from being fully rubbed dry. Cayde took a short moment to appreciate his “boyfriend”. Mostly his ass. Really just his ass. Cayde acknowledged that staring like this, or even really feeling like ths, was stupid, that Andal doesn’t feel the same way, and probably never will. 

Cayde keeps staring anyway, and pretends a circuit didn’t just  explode when Andal grabbed his hand and tugged him out the door.

“Ready for this?” 

Cayde shrugged, “It’s now or never, snookums.” 

 

They stepped out into the tower together again, ready to face whatever haynes mission Zavala would have ready for Cayde, and the brutal stack of paperwork Andal had missed.  

♠     ♠

 Andal was correct in how much paperwork would be waiting for him. He knew there was no way that 13 strikes, 3 raids, and a threat worth activating nightfall protocol over had been taken care of in the 10 hours he had been away. But he took them without complaint, glad they were his only punishment, aside from some incredibly judgemental glares from Zavala. 

Upon entering the Vanguard Hall, Zavala’s only greeting came by way of a low rumble from the opposite end of the table, where he had been hovering over a map of the cosmodrome. 

“Where the hell have you been?” Zavala had reached peak dad mode, and the tiredness of his tone struck Andal with a heavy guilt. He glanced at Cayde, who had no quick quips this time. He suddenly found a scuff on his boots to be very interesting. 

Despite everything, Cayde didn’t have to show up to the vanguard at all. It was incredibly common for guardians to skip morning briefings. Most guardians only reported every morning for the first few weeks after they are brought back. And yet, the one thing that remained consistent with Cayde-6 was that he reported to the tower, in some form or fashion, every single morning. Cayde  could lose both his arms on a raid, yet the exo would be using his toes to type up some sort of report, no matter how shitty the content might be.  

“Brask, that was not a rhetorical question. I will repeat myself again: Where the hell have you been?” Zavala was scariest when he was quiet. A century of watching the titan grow as a guardian, and that was one of two things that Andal only learned when he became his superior officer. When Zavala was quiet, it was like walking into a flame and feeling as if you needed a sweater as your body turned to ash. Andal had just walked directly into the flame.

Out of the corner of his eye, Andal noticed Cayde slip out the door. ‘ _ That. Absolute. Mother. Fucker’  _ Andals mind whirled with insults to throw at the exo, but in reality he didn’t blame him for leaving. Andal was supposed to me his impulse control, and he had failed.  

Andal sighed before deciding to respond. “Sir, I lost track of time, and failed to complete my duty to you, and to the city this morning. I apologize. It won’t happen again.” 

Zavala shook his head, and sighed. “You worried Ikora.” Zavala’s sentences were still clipped short, and his tone was kept low. Andal is suddenly vividly reminded of Zavala’s predecessor, Saint-14, and how Andal has never really clicked with the younger vanguard, not in the way he did with his old fireteam, but how they both treated him like family. Andal knows he is lucky, Osiris and Saint aren’t dead, and he hopes they find each other in The Infinite Forest, but he also knows they’ll never come back. Osiris can’t, and Saint loves him too much to return without him.  

Out of all the guardians Saint and Osiris could’ve chosen to replace them, they couldn’t have chosen better. Andal is honored to report to Zavala everyday, and Ikora’s steadfast creativity and sharp wit had helped him survive many a vanguard meeting with his sanity. Zavala’s full disappointment felt like mountains on his shoulders,and Andal can’t stand it anymore. He grabs his handheld and strides right into his office. Zavala doesn’t stop him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try and be more consistent about post times and formats. I think I'm gonna try and get a new chapter out on Fridays? However that is subject to change. Thanks for reading! Come yell with me on tumblr @got-vexmilk!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~actual plot stuff happens now~ 
> 
> Cayde finds a mysterious device from a fallen Captain on Venus. 
> 
> (slightly modified from tumblr, but if you don't want to reread to figure it out its not that big of a deal!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i totally forgot to post this chapter here!! if you follow me on tumblr you've had this since friday night. oof. ill try to be better about it going forward!

Cayde loved being out in the wildes more than anything else in the universe. At the moment, his fireteam was trekking through the forests of Venus, and although the air was humid enough to drink, Cayde would normally be content. He lived lived for the thrill of it all, for the hunt. Chasing Vex and Fallen across the planet normally brought him more joy than any poker game he had ever played. 

This however, was boring. 

They were marching through unmarked sections of jungle, looking for any sign of this skirmish that had  _ apparently  _ been reported by some scout he had never heard of, without even having anyone on the comms to talk to. Now Cayde had no problem with anyone on his fireteam, but Zavala had stuck him with two titans that were about as exciting as a bundle of bricks. Andal wasn’t able to run tactical this time, and bantering with his friend was what normally got him through times like this. On top of that, the trees are too dense to use their sparrows to make the mission go by faster. 

Since Andal was absent, Cayde instead used the quiet to brood on how Zavala was being  _ totally unfair _ . Andal was only an hour late, and he needed some goddamn rest. Zavala should honestly be thanking him, but instead he send him on this traveler-forsaken mission to the depth of nowhere with two mini-valas and practically no live tactical.  _ ‘Whatever’ _ , Cayde thinks, ‘ _ we’ll find this goddamn skirmish’  _

♠     ♠

It took many hours and several miles, but they ended the skirmish in a whirl of knives and bullets. The actual confrontation only took 3 minutes and 15 seconds from when the first shot was fired to when the area was declared clear by all three ghosts.Cayde surveys the area one last time, and notifies something peculiar in the underbrush, and reaches to pick it up. 

“Spades, do you know what this is?” 

 

Not thirty seconds later, he’s transmatted back to his ship, and soaring back to the last city.

Upon his arrival, Cayde stalked into Andal’s office instead of handing his report in to Zavala. Cayde had the right to report directly to his own vanguard, and doing anything less would be breaking the chain of command. At least, that's the lie Cayde prepared to tell the titan vanguard if he was caught. 

Andal’s office was Cayde’s second favorite place in the tower, and it’s only beat by that one spot that he can hang out with the stray cats. The office was clearly a room that wasn’t meant to be used when it was built, but Andal had made it his own, just like his apartment. Some warlocks had painted the constellations on his ceiling, and when he turned the lights out, they actually twinkled. Andal detested the stuffy furniture that was preferred by the vanguard before him, but kept it out of respect. As a compromise, the overstuffed chairs were surrounded by various colored bean bag chairs. Andal himself had painted the walls the deep indigo to match the sky, creating the illusion that this office was his own little pocket of the galaxy. Its extremely comforting.  

At the moment, Andal is curled around his tablet in one of his beanbags, typing away on some bullshit report Zavala was given him. He was so focused, he didn’t even notice Cayde come in.  

“Hey there, Snookums,” Cayde swears he didn’t mean for that to sound so fond. It was meant to be strictly teasing, because Andal doesn’t feel that way for him, and Cayde accepts that. Or maybe he doesn’t. Doesn’t matter. 

Whatever he does or doesn't feel, Andal doesn't acknowledge Cayde's tone. He looks up with bleary eyes, and it was clear he’d been here all day. He sighed. 

“Hey.” 

Cayde pulled the fallen communications device out of one of his pockets. “So Zavala sent me on this scouting mission, which was total bullshit, by the way, but I found this thing you guys might wanna take a look at.” Cayde gestures at his ghost, “Spades here says it's some sort of Fallen communication device.” 

Andal perks up at the mention of the fallen device. For a long time following the Battle of Six Fronts, they had no one at the tower who even spoke Eliksni. In more recent years, they had managed to employ some of Mara Sov’s people to translate some commands that were recorded in the battlefield, and wayward radio transmissions, but this was the first time a guardian had gotten their hands on an intact communications device.

“Let me see it” Andal stands out of the beanbag as Caye hands it to him. The communicator was about as long as his palm, and silver. It’s still active. Every now and then, it buzzes, and a message, clearly written in common Eliksni appears on the screen.  Cayde and Andal stare at the device for a moment, not speaking. Andal finally breaks the spell of silence, turning to Cayde with a look of genuine hope Cayde hasn’t seen on him since the day after the battle of 6 fronts, nearly a century ago now.  

“Zavala would want to see this,” Andal spoke slowly and mischievously, “but perhaps we should find out what it says.” 

Cayde nodded, and doing the closest thing to wiggling his eyebrows an exo could manage. “Perhaps we should.” 

♠     ♠

The fallen agent’s face goes pale as he reads through the transcripts of the communications Spades had provided for him. Several of his spindle-like arms clutch the tablet so hard that hairline fractures spiderwebbed out from the corners of the datapad, inching along towards the center. They ran a race across the screen, and only ceased when Andal gently pulls the tablet out from his hands. Andal glanced at Cayde, who was watching the agent with azure sensors that seemed to bore holes in the Eliksni spy.  

“What does it say?” Andal regarded the tablet again as Cayde shifts his stance. 

 

“The House of Wolves wish to employ Taniks the Scarred.” It was the first the agent had spoken, and his sandpaper words grated upon Andal’s very soul. The hunter had never seen the Fallen mercenary in person, but he didn’t like what he had heard. Tankis was a master assassin who owed allegiance to no house, and kneels before no one. He would kill anything for anyone, if given the right price. Andal reeled. He saw visions of his own Fireteam being ripped apart by Captains loyal to the fallen mercenaries. If the House of Wolves was looking to find them this soon after their failure to take the city at Twilight Gap… This couldn’t be anything good

 

Cayde had no idea who this Taniks guy was, but if he gave Andal Brask a reason to be worried, then by the Traveler the entire city should be worried. Andal grabs the datapad, and takes off towards where their ship is docked, with Cayde jogging after him. 

 

“I take it you’ve heard of whoever that Taniks guy was?” Cayde finally caught up with Andal, who had promptly began pacing upon climbing into the belly of Cayde’s ship, staring at the  cracked tablet Cayde knew he couldn’t read. 

Andal finally looked up. “You don’t?” Cayde shook his head, “Traveler, of course you don’t. Sorry.” Andal goes on to explain Taniks’s story, how it was rumored that he was banished from a long forgotten house and turned to killing instead. How Taniks the Scarred had come closer to fallen godhood than any Servitor, becoming a mangled mass of various technologies. How no one was sure if he was truly a biological being any more. Cayde sat wide-eyed as he listened about the mercenary’s ketch filled with treasure and trophies from his kills. How he had once killed two members of Andal’s first fireteam, and if the House of Wolves was employing him, it meant they were coming for the Vanguard. 

Cayde sat, slumped over in the pilot’s seat.  “We have to tell Zavala.”

Andal nodded solemnly. "This isn't just a hunter problem anymore" 

They sped off towards the City together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell with me on tumblr and someimes get early chapters! got-vexmilk.tumblr.com !!

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! come yell with me on tumblr, my inbox is always open: got-vexmilk.tumblr.com


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